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Samsung put a hard line between the Galaxy S21 Ultra and the Galaxy S21 and its older brother S21 +. That’s true not only because of the features, but also because of the materials used, especially for the back plate. That potentially makes repairs or replacement easier, and as PBK Reviews discovered, that was really just the beginning of a near-uneventful first teardown of the Galaxy S21 5G-based model.
Smartphones these days, especially expensive high-end ones, have been designed to thwart attempts to open them by unauthorized hands. Usually that is justified as a measure to protect the integrity of the phone, but it is actually intended more to protect the intellectual property and legal responsibilities of the company. That, of course, makes these phones more expensive and more difficult to repair, but it seems that the Galaxy S21 5G has a few points going for it.
Compared to a stiff and brittle back, the phone’s polycarbonate back makes it relatively safe to remove with a bit of head and persuasion. There are tons of screws and connectors that hold the components, but they are much easier and safer to remove than adhesive. Most of the components are modular, so they can be easily replaced.
Things are not perfect, of course, and there are parts that cannot be easily replaced. The battery does not yet have pull tabs, but it can still be successfully removed with great care. More importantly, though, the front camera is glued in place, making it one of the few components that cannot be easily replaced.
All in all, the first teardown of the Galaxy S21 5G proves thankfully uneventful. That’s also partly due to a nearly identical design to the Galaxy S20 5G, with a few new additions, like foam balls for the top speaker and detachable display cables. The YouTuber gives it a relatively high score, but we’ll have to see if iFixit has a similar positive experience and more secrets to discover.
